SLAM NO MORE

If the eye-popping fine didn’t catch your eye, the description of the company’s practices should have. WebNet Communications Inc., a would-be telephone company, asked Maine people if they wanted to win $100, a trip to Orlando or a free calling card. The company took the “yes” answer to this question as authorization to transfer a person’s telephone service to WebNet. Not surprisingly, the state Public Utilities Commission received numerous complaints about the company’s tactics.

Last week, the PUC fined WebNet, a Virginia-based company, $4.6 million – the largest fine the agency has ever assessed. True, the state will likely never see that much money because the company says it has no assets and will soon cease to exist. The message it sends, however, is perhaps just as important as the size of the fine: Maine is fed up with slamming, the illegal practice of switching one’s local or long-distance telephone carrier without consent, and is serious about stopping it.

Although WebNet is gone, others will no doubt take its place. “Slamming is a growth industry,” said Thomas Welch, chairman of the PUC. “People are pretty creative about taking money out of people’s pockets.” The PUC is currently investigating other companies that also mislead customers and, ultimately, slammed them. More big fines could be forthcoming.

To try to stop slamming before more pockets are emptied, the PUC has proposed two changes in law that should be supported by the Legislature. Both are included in an amended version of LD 1483, which was endorsed by the Utilities and Energy Committee late last month. One change would require companies like WebNet, all public utilities, in fact, to post a bond before they can do business in Maine. This at least will make companies think twice before trying out their latest schemes in Maine.

The other change would order local telephone utilities to withhold funds from carriers while the PUC investigates charges of slamming. Currently, utilities bill customers for services provided by telephone carriers, but the utilities are not on the hook for the wrongdoing of the carriers. If the carriers, like WebNet, don’t get their money, the thinking goes, they will be less eager to try to fleece Maine’s telephone customers.

While slammers will no doubt find new ways to try to take money out of people’s pockets, these measures will give state regulators more tools to stop such practices. It’s far from a slam- dunk, but worth legislative support.